newcham english news http://www.newscham.net/english ko newscham(mailto:) Unknown 2009-02-20T12:41+09:00 hourly 1 2004-07-01T12:00+09:00 newcham english news 'http://www.newscham.net/data/news_E/8/dragon_2_top.jpg' http://www.newscham.net/english 80 60 The Fire on Dragon Hill http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news_E&id=60 In the early morning hours of January 20th, a shipping container carrying members of the police SWAT team was hoisted to the roof of the Namildang building in Yongsan, a central district in the heart of Seoul City. The SWAT team used water canons to forcibly end a 25-hour long protest that was staged by local residents and members of the National Alliance of Squatters and Evictees. A fire soon engulfed the building. When the fire was finally extinguished at around 8 am that morning, six bodies were among the ashes; five protesters and one police officer.



The days that followed this tragedy left many asking what went wrong, what ignited the fire, and why such an incident took place?

The squatters assembled in the building the day before the fire to protest a compensation package they were offered in order to evacuate their homes and businesses to make room for a redevelopment project slated for the neighborhood. The protesters felt that the compensation packages were unfair and their voices were not being heard by the proper channels of authority.

Noh Han-na, a leader of the (Yongsan) 4th District squatters, was quoted in the online version of the LA Times on February 9th as saying, "People were indifferent to our plight, so they wanted to go up there and show their anger."

So, on January 19th, a little over 40 protestors, armed with Molotov cocktails, paint thinner, sling shots, and numerous other projectiles, entered the four-story building in the Yongsan district (which translates in English to Dragon Hill) and erected a makeshift watchtower on the roof to make their complaints heard.

Members of the police department and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) point to the fact that the protesters came in armed, and that initiated the violent atmosphere that quickly began to brew. But, for anyone who has ever witnessed a protest in Seoul, whether large or small, could tell you that the riot police often outnumber the amount of protesters and are always overwhelmingly armed, hence the squatters being armed does not seem, to some, as violent, but actually as a means of being cautious against a violent police crackdown.

The police department mobilized 1,400 riot police and around 100 commandos (SWAT) after the protest began in order to end, what was at the moment, a peaceful protest. It wasn’t until the police were given the word to go in that the protesters felt compelled to defend themselves with their homemade weapons.

Did the protestors initiate the violence by being armed themselves, thus justifying the type of excessive police action that resulted on that tragic morning? Maybe, but probably not. An overwhelming part of the Korean public sees this as another example of the way Korean president Lee Myung-bak and his administration deal with dissenting voices in the street.

“This incident occurred due to a stringent and excessive crackdown, and is a tragedy that stems from President Lee’s style of public security control,” Democratic Party (DP) leader Chung Sye-kyun. (The Korea Herald, 1/22/2009)

Two days prior to this tragic incident in Yongsan, President Lee nominated Kim Seok-ki to become the commissioner-general of the National Police Agency. Kim was the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief at the time, and one of President Lee’s closest allies going back to the president’s time as Mayor of Seoul. Police Chief Kim is known for using a heavy-handed approach when dealing with protesters in the street.

It was only last year that Kim ordered the use of violence to finally dismantle the months-long candlelight protests that gripped the city. The candlelight protests were generally peaceful and attended by citizens of all ages and viewpoints, from high school girls to human rights activists to senior citizens. President Lee ordered a stop to those protests which were halting his young administration’s aspirations. Police Chief Kim ordered tear gas - which had not been used on the public since the days of military-backed dictatorships on the peninsula – and thousands of riot police to show that he could restore “law and order” quickly and decisively.

Many critics of the government’s handling of the recent events in Yongsan blamed Police Chief Kim for authorizing excessive force to end the sit-in, but some saw it as his way to flex his muscles before taking the post as the head of the National Police. The public quickly called for Kim to be relieved of duty and for the government to take responsibility for the incident.

"[Kim's] first performance after being appointed as the head of police was a bloody crackdown on ordinary citizens," a spokeswoman for the opposition Democratic Party said according to AFP news agency. (BBC News, 1/20/2009)

An investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office was immediately launched, but was quickly criticized as being biased in favor of the government and the police department. The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) called for a parliamentary probe to look into the police crackdown, especially Police Chief Kim’s role, in Yongsan.

The ruling GNP quickly retorted this and blamed the DP for using the tragedy for political gain, since nominees like Kim Seok-ki and Won Sei-hoon, who was the minister of public administration and security at the time of the Yongsan fire and is slated to become director of the National Intelligence Service, were about to go before parliament for confirmation hearings prior to taking their new posts.

“The opposition party must not politically exploit the incident,” said GNP spokesman Yoon Sang-hyun. (The Korea Herald, 1/22/2009)

Two days after the fire that claimed six Korean lives, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office claimed that “… the victims died from the fire ignited by the makeshift bombs...”( The Korea Herald, 1/23/2009) “Their actions appeared to have motives other than an attempt to protect their livelihoods,” said Jeong Byeong-du, a senior prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. (JoongAng Daily, 1/23/2009) Immediately blaming the protesters for the fire without a thorough investigation led many to believe that this was the very beginning of what would become a 20-day investigation by the Prosecutors’ Office that would end in a bias and inconclusive way.

For one, critics claimed that the origin of the fire was still unknown. Some reports from witnesses stated that private security guards who were hired by the construction company started a fire on the lower floors of the building in an attempt to trap and smoke out the squatters. The Prosecutors’ Office and the government claimed that no private security was used in the operation on the morning of January 20th. They had to backtrack on this stance when an MBC television report showed video of private contractors spraying a water cannon at the protesters in the rooftop watchtower and holding shields while following behind a police line.



The Prosecutors’ Office said that they didn’t initially investigate this claim because the private security forces couldn’t be identified, thus justifying claims from critics that the investigation being conducted by the Prosecutors’ Office had too narrow a focus.

Police Chief Kim was also never summoned by the Prosecution to be interviewed about his role in the incident. Questions were sent via letter and he responded accordingly.

The calls for a more in-depth, unbiased probe went unanswered, and on February 9th the Prosecutors’ Office issued its investigation’s findings, which included the indictment of 27 people, including 20 of the protestors, for obstructing official duties. The police department and its leadership were cleared of any wrongdoing.

“The investigation, as we expected, put all the blame on the demonstrators and none on the police. The only option we have left now is to launch an independent council to get to the bottom of things,” the DP’s Roh Young-min. (The Korea Herald, 2/10/2009)

A day later, Kim Seok-ki withdrew his name for consideration to head the National Police Agency and urged the president to rescind his nomination as well. He called his stepping down a way of taking “moral responsibility” for what happened in Yongsan. This provided his critics with little comfort knowing that no one in the police department would be punished for what is perceived to be a blatant case of using excessive force.

One can be sure that the Prosecution’s findings will not be the end of pro- and anti-government factions bickering about what went wrong on that fateful day in January. But one thing is for sure, this tragedy could not have come at a worse time for President Lee and the ruling GNP.

The DP and other opposition parties, along with civic and human rights groups, used the Yongsan tragedy to spotlight Lee Myung-Bak and the ruling GNP’s controversial plan to push numerous reform bills through the National Assembly in February.



Candlelight vigils have been held every night at the construction site where the fire took place. Then on February 1st, civic groups and members of four opposition parties staged a rally in Cheonggye Plaza, near City Hall. The opposition parties wasted no time in connecting Yongsan to controversial laws supported by the GNP.

“Thirteen days have passed since the Yongsan incident, but the government has not taken any responsibility for it. Instead, it has declared a war against the people, particularly farmers and laborers, by trying to enact evil laws,” said DP Chairman Chung. (JoongAng Daily, 2/2/2009)

Although the GNP charged the opposition with playing “street politics,” the opposition was able to put public pressure on President Lee and his party.

The Yongsan incident has also lead many to question the nation’s land redevelopment laws. Many see the existing laws as heavily favoring the rich and dismissing the poor.

"They're focusing on profits and just casting these people aside," said Kim Nam-geun, a civil rights activist. "It's a push for development at any cost." (L.A. Times, 2/9/2009)

The ramifications of the Yongsan incident are continuing to play out on a daily basis. The Blue House (Korea’s equivalent to the White House) will be feeling the heat from the candles being relit every night in Yongsan and elsewhere around the country because of the events on the morning of January 20th. Only this time, Kim Seok-ki is not around to blow them out. President Lee, the “bulldozer,” will have to find a new way to put out the fires.
]]> english_news 2009-02-20T11:43:16+09:00 The Fire on Dragon Hill 2009-02-20T11:43:16+09:00 "I hope my mother is proud of me" http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news_E&id=59
"Some of us women in the army were much stronger and more tolerant of hardship than the men. I don’t think gender makes a difference when it comes to survival in the army. There were male comrades who were more timid and scared in battlefield than women. There were also women who were good marksmen. I am happy living by myself these days. I have a big house, my satellite TV, chickens, 2 dogs, vegetable plots and rubber holdings. I read newspapers and books, learn the Thai language, listen to music and sing my favourite songs. I don’t need a man around.

We accumulated many good and important experiences from our sacrifices and losses. So even though we are not professors and intellectuals, our 40 years of life in the jungle is not a blank piece of paper. Poor people have their virtues, principles and morals. Poor people have backbone....

I value my history very much. I do not want to criticise or negate our past. Even though I am not a hero, I am still proud of our history. I hope that our younger generation find our experiences useful – that they can reflect upon them and value them. Then I will not have wasted 41 years of my life. I feel lucky too, that I am still alive today." These are Xue Ying’s usual anecdotes.

The Japanese Occupation

When the Japanese invaded Malaya, I was in my teens. The Japanese soldiers would urinate everywhere in public. They even bathed naked in public. If a girl passed by, they would call out to her to come to them. They behaved like beasts. At night, they would come knocking at our doors, so girls had to run away to hide in the jungle and swamps. The people feared these soldiers more than the tigers. They raped women and took things from our house. They were more disciplined after the military police came. Soon all schools were teaching in Japanese, they sent teachers from Japan to Malaya. It felt like the whole of Malaya was theirs. I did not go to school because my family was too poor. Then the Japanese left and the British came back. The communists were by this time, organizing people into Youth Groups, Women’s Associations and Veteran Associations.

The Attraction of the Movement

I became actively involved in 1948. The communists organized night schools and outings for us. They read us the Party’s newspapers. I hardly knew a word then. They taught us that women were the most oppressed class, they awakened our consciousness. They told that if we wanted to improve our lives, we had to work hard. Those with money to share their wealth and those without can contribute our labour. I joined the movement as a member of the Civilian Unit in my village. My job was to collect monthly fees from party’s supporters. We also sent food donated by sympathizers to the guerrillas staying nearby.

I joined the guerrillas because I knew they were good people. I had no chance to study and the communists taught me a lot. I felt this was the path I should take to have a decent future. My family was very much against my decision. They nearly skinned me alive when they found out. They tried to deter me with both the ‘carrots and the sticks’. To stop me from going out, they soaked the rice in the water so that I had no food at home or locked me out of the house at night if I returned home too late. They also tried to bribe me with goodies and even offered to send me to school in Penang, another city far away in Malaya. But I persisted even though there is a price to pay for choosing this path. We were pioneers, opening up the way for those after us.

Escape from Home

I asked the party to let me join the guerrillas when I was 14 but they refused because they thought I was too young. They only agreed 2 years later. That day, all my family members were away and I was alone at home, looking after my nephew. I took the chance and ran out of the house immediately. I ran and ran, passing many houses along the way. I was going to my team leader, Ah Fong, who lived at the edge of the jungle. Unfortunately, my mother was already at Ah Fong’s house before me. She persuaded Ah Fong to give me up and accused Ah Fong for influencing me. She said now that I have grown up, I should be staying at home to help out with the family. My mother cried bitterly. But my mind was made up. My sister who was the president of a women’s association under the Party had wanted to join the guerrillas too but my mother managed to persuade her not to go. My brother too had joined the guerrillas before. But he could not stand the hardship and left.

Japanese comrades

I was taught medicine by our Japanese comrade who was also a military doctor in the Japanese army before. In my unit, there were 10 Japanese comrades; one of them was a vet, others were experienced chefs. Some of them were University Professors. These were Japanese who refused to surrender at the end of WWII to the Allied Forces and joined us as guerrillas’ fighters instead. Ah Fu was a firearms specialist and he also knew acupuncture and music. He was very talented and he taught us Japanese songs, dances and judo. Perhaps, our party did not deal with them properly. Some of them walked out on us, others were martyred during fighting with the enemies. Ah Fu was one of those who had tried to escape. Together with four or five other Japanese, they tried to set up another unit by themselves but they failed. They were so hungry they resorted to stealing cassava from the masses and begging for food. This lasted for more than a year before the party found them and brought them back to the camp. They were so thin by then, with long hair and long beard.

The taste of Hunger

Hunger was the hardest thing to bear in the army. No food but we still had to work and do our duties. We could hardly sleep and it was most stressful to engage the enemy in battles under such conditions. We experienced the worst hunger after 1954, when the Peace Talks with the Malaysian government failed. The situation then was dangerous and we were inexperienced. We ate some kind of mountain cassava but did not cook it well. Soon after we ate these, we all had problems lifting our heads up; we had blurred visions and could not see a thing. We were shivering from cold and could hardly carry a thing! It was pure luck that we managed to return to our campsite. We were later told how to cook the cassava properly, that these should be soaked well in water, thoroughly cleaned, scraped and toasted like bread. Moreover, there are poisonous cassava in the jungle, so one must know how to differentiate them. A person could not live without oil and sugar for too long. Once we did not have fat or oil in our food for more than 3 months and our vision got all blurry. So much so that during our sentry duty, we could not see a thing even though we could hear noises around us. Another thing we learnt is that the mountain cabbages we ate had no vitamins or proteins, these only filled the stomach for a short while. After an hour of eating such cabbage meals, we would urinate and then become hungry again. Only meat could stave off hunger much longer. I saw comrades who had suffered hunger for a long time, how they just sat down one day and never got up again.

Our Orang Asli comrades

I was once a section leader to a group of Orang Asli comrades, these were indigenous people who live deep inside the rainforests. They were both men and women, all 17 of them. We escorted them all the way to our campsite and we welcomed them warmly. They could build their own kind of houses at the campsite, made of bamboo and rattan. There would be space below their houses to build a fire, to keep their feet warm at night. They do not use blankets. The Orang Asli should not be looked down upon. They have their wisdom and capability. They told us that the enemy had kidnapped many of their youngsters and took them far away by helicopters for training. They then returned as informants and agents for the government to fight us.

When our Orang Asli comrades were with us, we tried to make them feel at home by building them a stage for their traditional dancing. Their dances have a unique rhythm; they would dance until they entered a trance. They also drank a very strong home-brewed liquor and I used to enjoy myself, drinking and dancing with them. They were good at trapping mice too. They grilled the mice, skinned them and ate them immediately. They offered the heads of the mice to me as a delicacy; it was their way of showing respect. Finally, our Orang Asli members decided to return to their community because they were not used to collective living like us. They needed to be free, to roam around in the jungle and hunt for game. Collective living is like tying up their hands and legs. But we are still grateful to them for having supported us in the past.

Life as a Guerrilla Leader

Becoming a leader in the guerrillas’ army did not depend on one’s education. People were promoted to section leaders, cadres or high-ranking leaders based solely on performances. People were also assessed by their attitudes and way of thinking. One needs to be both virtuous and talented to move up the rank. I was finally promoted to deputy-leader of a sub-unit before we left the mountains. Before this, I was a section assistant, promoted to assistant section leader and then section leader. My main duties were transporting food and sentry duties. I also organized my comrades to clear wild land for planting vegetables.

The 20-month anti-offensive operation

This happened in 1970s. We were at the Command Headquarters of the Third Regiment. A troop was dispatched to escort a unit of 40 to 50 people south into Malaysia. We were to take with us weapons and money, among other things. We also had to escort a team of technicians including the telegram officers southwards. We prepared for these trips for a long time. It took us a full month to go and return. We built bamboo rafts to cross the huge Perak River. We were also carrying a bag full of important letters from the Party. During our journey, our reconnaissance team reported that they had spotted enemy soldiers down the river. They estimated that the distance between us was only about one hour on foot. One of our members overheard that and walked out on us. He surrendered to the enemy. As soon as we discovered that he was missing, we had to retreat. Before long, the enemy bombs started to rain down upon us.

The so-called 20 month-long anti-offensive operation began due to a joint military operation between the Malaysian and Thai governments. So even our Command Headquarters had to move. This was a very big operation which needed several hundred trucks to move many things; food, medicine, even factories. We had to hide those things we could not bring with us. At night we had to cook ‘ba ma’ – a kind of black paste made from the white flower trees, that worked as glue to seal our boxes and containers. It took us months of sleepless nights in order to move out of the place successfully. We were carpet-bombed by our enemy’s planes. Each time the planes came for us, we had to take our rucksacks off and hid quickly behind trees or inside the hollow trunks of huge trees, if we were lucky enough to find these. We tried to follow behind the tail of these planes to avoid their fire. In the 20 months that ensued, the enemy used big bombs, rockets and planes against us. We retreated all the way back to the Hala River, right into the deepest part of the jungle. It took us a long time to get out of the danger completely. We had so little food with us, each person could only eat three spoonfuls of fried noodles a day and we only drank rainwater. We were surrounded then. Those women who were having menstruation really suffered. We were sweaty and we kept urinating all the time. I had to conserve my underwear by wrapping it with plastic sheet. We could not change our clothes or bathe for days. Both sides of my inner thighs became infected because of this. For over a year, we did not taste a cube of sugar. Since I am a coffee addict, I really suffered during this episode of enemy ambush. In the past, no matter how bad things were, we could still have at least one cup of coffee a day. During better times, we could even enjoy green bean soup. But in those hollowing 20 months, we literally had nothing.

Marriage and divorce

Ah Yum, my ex-husband, was a high-ranking officer in the Party. He made some mistakes and as a punishment, he was transferred to our unit. That was how we met, I was only 17 years old then. He was very nice to me and praised me a lot. But we only got married after I turned 25 years old. I thought he would have turned over a new leaf but 7 years after our marriage, he reverted to his old self again. He was flirting and having affairs with other women comrades. I tolerated the situation for 5 years and finally, I told him that my ‘landmine’ would explode if he pushed me too far.

The final break with my husband came when he was discovered to be having an affair with a married comrade. I reported it to the leaders and they were both punished. This marriage really hurt me badly; it was a big blow to me. I am still angry with him. I could have forgiven him then if he was sincere about changing himself. But he was only good at telling ‘long stories’, preaching high morals without practising any of what he said. He was without shame or conscience. I told him how I honestly felt about him in our last meeting, in front of our unit leaders. I told him he was not fit to be our leader. I lectured him for 3 whole hours. After that, there was no way for us to be friends again. Actually, he was the one who asked for the divorce. I could have refused him and the army could also refuse his application. I have never cheated on him. Many women comrades were angry at the way he had treated me. Even though I received many marriage proposals after my divorce, I have resolved to remain single. I could not find any good man. My ideal husband should be someone who care and support me and vice versa. I don’t like men who rely on me for a living or who expects me to take care of his daily lives. I prefer someone who is as independent as I am. In fact, I have managed very well on my own all these years. I have proven that women can live on our own well and happy.

Being a parent

We had a daughter together. She must be about 39 years old now. But we had to give her away as soon as she was born because the jungle was not safe for her. A Thai family adopted her. She grew up like any Thai person and has recently married a Thai Fisherman. I do not mind his nationality; after all, it’s her marriage, not mine. As parents, we should not interfere in our children’s choice of partners...if they want to marry someone outside our community or race, we should let them decide for themselves. No one can make such an important decision for them. I do not dream of her marrying a rich capitalist because a rich man would take many wives. I did not attend her wedding but she sent me their pictures. My daughter and my son-in-law live an honest, hardworking and simple life. No need to dream about becoming a millionaire. There are so many poor people in this world; they live on anyway, as best as they can. Too much money can also be a bad thing. I feel responsible for bringing my daughter to this world even though I did not fulfil my responsibility of bringing her up. She will inherit my rubber holding and fruit garden when I die. She is the only one in the world for me.

After we left the mountains in 1989, we looked all over the place for her. My comrades helped me to locate her in Bangkok. I was very touched when she addressed me as ‘Mother’ at our first meeting. She would buy me fruits whenever I visited her family. When her foster family was told that I was her biological mother, her foster mother kept crying because she thought I would take my daughter back. But I assured her that this was not my intention and that I only wanted to thank them for taking care of my child.

Going Home

Our status in Thailand is that of an Overseas Chinese. I would not compromise my political position and revolutionary history just to return to Malaysia. I have tried to apply for a visitor’s visa for Malaysia but the government refused me. I only wanted to pray at my mother’s grave in my hometown for her forgiveness on the Chinese All Souls’ Day. I think I have shown my love for my mother by joining the revolutionary struggle because we were fighting for an independent Malaya, free from the colonialism and imperialism of the British and the Japanese. My mother is a Malayan citizen, so I was also fighting for her freedom. This is my contribution to her; I hope she is proud of me. ]]> english_news 2008-09-09T20:33:13+09:00 "I hope my mother is proud of me" 2008-09-09T20:33:13+09:00 Korean Privacy Report 2007-2008(1) http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news_E&id=58 Privacy Supervisory Authority

In Korea, there is not the Basic Act on the Protection of Personal Information to protect privacy in all spheres of society yet. There is not an independent privacy supervisory authority either. Human rights groups in Korea had insisted on enacting the Basic Act on the Protection of Personal Information and establishing independent privacy supervisory authority for a long time from late nineties. Three different acts on the protection of personal information which include establishing independent privacy supervisory authority were proposed in the 17th National Assembly. The Democratic Labor Party proposed the act that was drafted in cooperation with human rights groups in November 2004. The act drafted by government and the ruling party, Uri Party, was proposed in July 2005, and the act drafted by Grand National Party was proposed in October 2005. However, these acts were not passed even in the Standing Committee in National Assembly, which was not because there were objections in the Standing Committee, but because Assemblymen were negligent, even they were not discussed. Finally, the acts were repealed automatically when the 17th National Assembly was closed in may 2008.

After that, there was a public hearing on June 27, 2008, on the Basic Act on the Protection of Personal Information drafted by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) to propose in the 18th National Assembly. However MOPAS plans not to establish an independent privacy supervisory authority, but take charge of supervisory role by itself. Human rights groups criticize that MOPAS itself is main object to be supervised as a ministry directly managing huge personal information such as resident registration databases, and that it's illogical to supervise itself.

Personal Information Leaks

The Auction site, which was one of the biggest on-line market in Korea, was hacked causing personal information of more than ten million people to be exposed in February 2008. Soon after, the fact that one of the major ISPs, Hanaro-Telecom, intentionally abused its more than six million clients' personal information (the number of leaked records were more than eighty five millions) became known in April 2008. These accidents were a great shock to the public. The victims of these accidents raised class suits against the Auction and Hanaro-Telecom.

Human rights groups claimed that the reason why leakage of personal information had occurred on a large-scale in these accidents was because large-scale personal information was collected unnecessarily by the companies in one hand, and public authority did not perform its jobs in monitoring and overseeing these companies’ behaviors in collecting and using personal information in the other hand, and urged the government to enact the Basic Act on the Protection of Personal Information and establish an independent privacy supervisory authority.

Among the personal information leaked in these accidents, the exposure of the Resident Registration Numbers poses tremendous problems. The Resident Registration Number is issued to every Korean at birth. It is a unique number which includes sensitive information such as date of birth and sex, and can never be changed. The Korean government allowed private entities to collect such sensitive information without proper regulations, and abandoned its responsibility by not providing effective corrective measures even though massive numbers of Resident Registration Numbers have been traded and used for fraudulent IDs. To minimize the damage of victims, human rights groups requested the Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) to reassign their Resident Registration Numbers in May 2008. However, MOPAS denied that request saying it is impossible.

Internet Real Name Policy

Since the Ministry of Information and Communication expressed the necessity of introducing the ‘Internet real name policy’, which is a policy that obligates every user of major Internet portal sites and government sites to confirming his/her real identity, in the early 2003. Human rights groups had been against the policy. They criticized that the policy would violate freedom of expression and right to anonymity of all users. In addition, they worried about identity theft in the process of authentication using name and Resident Registration Number. Actually, there was a large scale identity theft accident in the on-line game site, Lineage, where fake accounts, more than 220 thousands, were made using stolen names and Resident Registration Numbers in February 2006. As the public opinion criticizing beef import negotiation between Korea and U.S. spread fast over the Internet, the Korean government and the governing party, GNP, planned to expand the sites which were forced to adopt Internet real name policy up to over 200 sites including Google.

Meanwhile, the revision of Public Election Act was passed in the National Assembly in May 2004, which requires Internet newspaper sites to adopt technical management of confirming user's real identity in their bulletin boards or chat rooms during the election period. Human rights groups and Internet newspapers criticized that 'Internet real name policy during the election period' would restrict political participation of citizens, and announced disobedience to the policy. (http://freeinternet.or.kr/) The National Human Rights Commission expressed objection to 'Internet real name policy' in the "Opinions to the National Assembly about Politics related Law and its revision" in February 2004. (*) In the opinion, the NHRC pointed out that Internet real name policy was clearly censorship presuming that all people who would post in the bulletin board during the election period would circulate false information and/or libel, and violated freedom of expression under the article 19 of the World Human Rights Declaration and the article 21 of the Constitution by restricting freedom of expression and right to form opinions based on anonymity in the Internet, and would possibly violate right to control his/her own information under the article 17 of the Constitution in that individual information would be subject to misuse for the purpose other than original purpose presented when information was collected, by allowing the minister of MOGAHA and credit information companies to confirm users' identity using name and Resident Registration Number when requested by Internet newspapers.

Since 'Internet real name policy during election period' was first enforced in May 31st local elections in 2006, some of progressive Internet newspapers practiced disobedience. An Internet newspaper, 'People's Media Chamsesang', which was imposed a fine of KRW 10 million at the price of disobedience during the presidential election in 2007, raised a unconstitutionality suit on April 4, 2008. (**) In addition, A netizen raised a unconstitutionality suit claiming that Internet real name policy violated basic rights under the Constitution at the last date of enforcement of Internet real name policy during general election, on April 8, 2008.

* http://www.humanrights.go.kr/04_sub/body02.jsp?NT_ID=24&flag= VIEW&SEQ_ID=554728&page=1

** http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news&nid=47126 ]]> english_news 2008-09-09T20:20:22+09:00 Korean Privacy Report 2007-2008(1) 2008-09-09T20:20:22+09:00 Peace to Tibet http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=english_tv&id=31 Tibet at 4900 meters in altitude,
known as a land of spirit near heaven,
is a land of struggle for independence against Chinese for 60 years.

Not only Tibetan but also people around the world are having rallies and demonstrations continuously as Chinese government is quelling down demonstrations bloodily with its control on the media and the press.

This shows a brief history of Tibet and solidarity action in South Korea.
]]> 참세상 english TV 2008-07-15T16:40:00+09:00 Peace to Tibet 2008-07-15T16:40:00+09:00 Police Fires WaterCannon During Violent Crackdown http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=english_tv&id=30 On 1st of June 2008, the police are firing water cannon to the people in the street. The people's countermeasure council officially reported that 60 were injured. 180 were detained according to an unofficial police report. ]]> 참세상 english TV 2008-07-11T18:38:25+09:00 Police Fires WaterCannon During Violent Crackdown 2008-07-11T18:38:25+09:00 Mass movement halts the neo-liberal bulldozer http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news_E&id=57



The newly elected neo-conservative regime of President Lee Myungbak has been humbled by the spontaneous emergence of a mass movement, which was sparked by female middle school and high school students, but which has seen the largest and longest sustained demonstrations since the fall of the military dictatorship. The mass protests are primarily against the imposed resumption of the importation of US beef but have, in the course of their development, tapped into latent anger of the Korean population against the implementation of the government’s neo-liberal agenda.

In April this year, Korean President Lee, before meeting George Bush in his Texas ranch, agreed to lift all existing bans on US beef which were imposed in 2003 after a case of mad cow was detected, especially beef over 30 months old which is considered to be more susceptible to mad cow disease.

The move was unpopular due to the perceived scientific risks that it posed to the Korean population and because the Korean market already had found a suitable alternative in consuming its own beef along with the importation of Australian beef.

It is also a strong cultural symbol of class division as the elite of Korean society, that are the vocal supporters of the beef agreement, do not dine on US beef as they are wealthy enough to eat the much preferred but expensive domestically produced beef. On the other hand, the rest of the Korean population will be forced to eat US beef.

However, the Korean market is of high importance to American beef producers (as it was the 3rd largest before the bans were imposed) and the lifting of the beef bans has been tied by the Democrat-controlled US congress as a precondition for the congressional ratification of a Korea-US Free Trade Agreement which has already been signed by the Korean and US administrations.

In response to the agreement, a relatively small group of Korean female middle school and high school students who organized themselves through the internet organized a daily candle-light vigil outside City Hall.

The Beginning

These students were also motivated to protest by a series of proposed educational reforms designed to foster greater competition among already exhausted school students (a common day for an average Korean high-student usually requires a study schedule of 7am-1am) as well as strengthen the elite schools but kept their demands to the issue of US beef.


These protests drew media attention as well as a large amount of sympathy from Korean society. Thus, in the world’s leading internet-infrastructure nation, what became known as a ‘netizens’ movement spontaneously emerged. The open space of the internet drew out an enormous amount of criticism and debate about the government’s policies as well as creativity in how they should be opposed.

The ‘netizens’ movement was able to draw in large amounts of people from the broader layer of society into the protests. These protests grew in number and climaxed on June 10th - the 21st anniversary of the demonstrations that led to the overthrow of the military dictatorship - to attract around 700, 000 demonstrators.

In contrast to demonstrations that were characteristic of the Korean movements in the 1980’s and 90’s these demonstrations were more festive and less militant in their character. Instead of including just organized labour, student and social movements, these candle-light vigils were filled with families and people from all ages and backgrounds. Not only was this new movement not led by the more traditional protest leaders but in some ways it actually acted to revitalize them as they were demoralized from the lost battle against the FTA as well as the emergence of the Lee Myungbak regime.

Dynamics

However, it would be wrong to characterize the candle-light vigil demonstrations simply as a homogenous movement around a simple issue. As these demonstrations were rather spontaneous in their development, they have been both heterogeneous and extremely fluid in its internal dynamics. While at first, there existed a rather clear dichotomy between the ‘netizens’ and ‘activists’, through the course of struggling together, and despite strong debate and the existence of cultural differences, there has been a deepening convergence between the old and new tendencies.

What also occurred in these demonstrations was the broadening of the issues brought in by participants. Where as, the surface issue is beef, demonstrators began producing placards, and chanting slogans that also focused on President Lee’s subservience to the US government and his neo-liberal program of privatization of the health care, of education, of water and electricity as well as his plan to build a canal in a geographically small nation that is a peninsula surrounded by water but which already enjoys highly developed transportation infrastructure. President Lee’s empty but popular electoral slogans were dissipating as his specific policies came under the spotlight and increasing scrutiny.

The upshot of these demonstrations was a major crash in support of the Lee government from 75% in February to 17% in June. Some internal government polls even saw his popularity plummet to 7%. The government went into emergency mode and attempted a number of symbolic gestures to rebuild support. It first attempted a mass resignation of all ministers involved in the signing the accord. It sent negotiators to the United States in order to stop beef over 30 months old to be imported. President Lee, who has built a reputation as a strong-armed leader who took pride in his reputation of ignoring opposition and ‘getting things done’ thus referred to in the

Korean media as ‘the bulldozer’ was humbled into making two separate nationally televised apologies where he expressed remorse for not listening to the concerns of the Korean people and promised to change.

▲  container boxes blocking protesters from government comlex

However, the US congress did not back down and after much wrangling merely offered a temporary voluntary agreement by US farmers not to export beef over 30 months without writing this condition into the accord..

The Korean movement didn’t accept this concession as continued its protests with the government’s tone and response then changing dramatically. President Lee proclaimed all that could be achieved had been done and that all demonstrations needed to cease immediately as it was hurting the economy and paralyzing Korean society. Where the government was originally dismissive and then apologetic towards the movement it made a strategic decision to crush it with force ? with the infamous Korean police state reemerging from the shadows of the democracy era. Starting from late June, the government directed the police to heavily repress the demonstrations resulting in hundreds being arrested and injured through police brutality.

Provocation and Revitalizing Public Support

However, the militant traditions of the Korean student and labour movement allowed the movement to stiffen its resistance to the police violence and respond in kind. The corporate media then ignored the police provocations and only focused on the militant actions of the demonstrators in removing police barricades and taking the riot police head on.
▲  Police are spraying fire extinguisher


▲  Police are spraying water canon

This allowed the government to isolate the movement and increase the violence of the state forces and drawing in the militant sectors into an escalation of violent confrontations while isolating the movement through the mass media. This tactic worked to an extent with polls showing that while Korean people opposed the imports of Korean beef they also wanted to see the demonstrations stop if they became too violent.

But another unforeseen twist occurred that again changed the balance of forces. Just when it appeared the movement was trapped and on a downturn -a group of well known progressive Catholic priests that had also played an important role against the military dictatorship intervened by inserting themselves as a buffer between demonstrators and police. They also supported all the demands of the movement as well as calling for the resignation of the chief of police over the police violence.



This inspired progressive Protestant priests to do the same followed later by Buddhist monks (that are under a general ideological war from the Christian fundamentalist President). This has given physical breathing space to demonstrators as well as revitalized public support for their causes. The latest mobilization drew hundreds of thousands of people again with many fearing that President Lee will return to the authoritarian style of his ideological predecessors during the military dictatorship era.

What has also occurred is the participation of the union movement. At one point, the Korean government ordered the national distribution of US beef that had accumulated in various ports but faced the opposition of waterfront workers who refused to allow it. In the last week, around 45 000 workers, from President Lee’s old company Hyundai, went on a two hour walk-out in solidarity with the protesters.

CEO president in the mire

However, President Lee’s position is becoming increasingly difficult. He was elected in a landslide victory last year with a historically low voter turn-out. His specific neo-liberal policies were not show-cased but rather grand promises combined with empty slogans. His main electoral slogan was “Lee Myungbak will definitely revive the economy” with the details being he will achieve 6% economic growth in his first year while in the long term doubling the average income of the Korean people and making it the world’s 6th largest economy. While the economic growth of Korea has been adequate under the previous regime it came at the expense of a major internal redistribution of wealth and a large social polarization which has created a very large sense of economic insecurity for the working and increasingly squeezed middle-classes.

Lee has also created a reputation, from being a successful CEO of Hyundai of having an indomitable will, but also someone who accomplishes important achievements and who will be able to lead the country into the future. In this context Lee was able to jump on the discontent with the so-called “left” government of ex-President Noh Moohyun and create what appeared to be a monolithic victory. This was reinforced with the general elections, which delivered a strong majority to his Han Nara (One Nation) Party, and well as the fracturing of the neo-liberal opposition parties and the Democratic Labour Party. The appearance however was subsequently betrayed by the fluid nature of Korean politics.

Lee needed to build momentum quickly in reviving economic growth and the central piece to his initial program was implementing a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. The Korean ruling elite is haunted by the spectre of Chinese capitalism that its former economic success based on a model of autonomous state-capitalist export oriented development is now being usurped by the rise of China and that Korea will need to move away from obsolete autonomous economic development to creating a new niche in the world market through information technology and other services.

The FTA agreement will give large advantages to the giant Korean conglomerates (known as Chaebol) but spell disaster for many other aspects of the economy that couldn’t compete with the United States. Being materially and ideologically tied to big business, Lee sees the mass accumulation of capital as the motor of the new economy, thus requiring not only a FTA but also a program of mass privatization and tax cuts for big business.

However, unlike the two previous administrations which had many important cadre recruited out of the democracy movement, Lee surrounded himself with close allies, spokesmen of big business and the fundamentalist Protestant Church that he attends. Where as the previous two regimes were able to use their organic links to the democratic movement to co-opt and largely keep the population demobilized President Lee enjoys no such capacity.

The upshot being that the first real major initiative that he attempted to implement faced major opposition. Furthermore, this opposition didn’t emerge from the established movements but from the ranks of previously inactive people, thus making it more difficult to control.

The Free Trade Agreement with the United States cannot be implemented without the prior implementation of the beef agreement. And if the US congress doesn’t implement it before the end of the Bush regime, it is quite likely that it will not get implemented at all as the likely next US president Barak Obama has proclaimed that it’s too favorable to Korean industrialists and will need to be reviewed.

Consequently it is imperative for President Lee to implement the beef accord. But it has come at the cost of a losing all political momentum for future privatization projects as well as a general and strong disenchantment with the administration over its policies and authoritarian method of dealing with dissent. It has also led to a revitalization of the activist movements which will now have much greater confidence to resist the neo-liberal agenda of President Lee. It has also led to a new form of activism that has transcended the previous traditions born as a product of having to work underground but not effective in building the movement today. The emergence of the mass movement and its confrontation with the state has already begun to scare away foreign investment and the economic paralysis has contributed to a significant increase in inflation with all economic factors doing worse under the current administration than under the former, thus negating President Lee’s basis for a policy blank cheque to do as he pleases.

Unforeseen Trajectory

As there is no central leadership of this movement it’s very difficult to gauge its future direction or even what will happen in the near future. It is clear that this is not merely a replay of the same political dynamic of earlier movements. The lack of popularity in Lee Myungbak has not translated into a significant increase in support of the traditional opposition political parties. The phenomena is dynamic and constantly evolving along with the consciousness of those involved.


Each new development - and especially the future trajectory - is largely unforeseen by analysts and even activists. No one is sure how successful the movement will be in stopping the importation of American beef but it has certainly fractured the seemingly monolithic aura of President Lee and his neo-liberal bulldozer and will perhaps spark a new generation of class struggle in South Korea. ]]> english_news 2008-07-09T10:55:12+09:00 Mass movement halts the neo-liberal bulldozer 2008-07-09T10:55:12+09:00 This is the way of "Korean Democracy"(1) http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=english_tv&id=29 Mass protest caused by the Korean government's beef imports has lasted more than a month. Being angry, more than a hundred thousand people gathered central Seoul.

On 28th of July, it was witnessed that police were beating and kicking demonstrators' faces and heads in very organized ways to quell the peaceful candle light rallies.

"They're overwhelmed by police. Make line and push people" the police commander said.

This is the "democracy" the government has said.
]]> 참세상 english TV 2008-06-30T17:58:33+09:00 This is the way of "Korean Democracy"(1) 2008-06-30T17:58:33+09:00 This is the way of "Korean Democracy"(2) http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=english_tv&id=28 With the commander's saying "They're overwhelmed by police. Make line and push people", the 2nd quelling of the day was started.

At 21:10 on 28th of July, police were firing and spraying water and extinguisher waiving shields and sticks.

Just in 10 minutes, demonstrators were pushed to the pavement. While this, more than a hundred people were wounded. ]]> 참세상 english TV 2008-06-30T17:56:25+09:00 This is the way of "Korean Democracy"(2) 2008-06-30T17:56:25+09:00 More than the milidary dictatorship? http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=english_tv&id=27 Angry with bus barricade which blocked to the main road to the Presidetial palace and government offices, people shaking bus barricade.

Around 9: 10 p.m. police started spraying water and extinguisher to sit-in demonstrators. They were chanting "step down, Lee Myungbak".

Around 12:00 in the morning, police started quelling the demonstration waving shields and sticks.

People were chanting "Don't give up the fight!" "Candles, Cheers!"

Police aggressively assaulted peaceful candle light demonstrators including kids, women, and students.

A day before, the government threatened that it would mix tear gas with the water. it said there will be fluorescent materials in the water to figure out who participate in the rally.

Police chief Eo cheong-soo said the police oppression would "be back to the one of the 1980s" under the military dictatorship. ]]> 참세상 english TV 2008-06-30T17:49:46+09:00 More than the milidary dictatorship? 2008-06-30T17:49:46+09:00 South Korea:The general election and left-wing politics http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news_E&id=56
The DLP won two constituency seats and three seats from the party list, with 5.6% or 973,345 votes. The DLP’s seats were halved compared with the result of the previous election in 2004 of 10 seats — two constituency seats plus eight list seats, respectively. The Progressive New Party (PNP), which split from the DLP, won no seats and obtained 2.94%, less than the threshold of 3%.

In sum, the two left-wing parties suffered defeats in the election.

In this election, the ruling Hanara Party won an overwhelming victory of 153 seats in the 299-seat congress. With the votes from other conservative groups, conservative MPs hold more than 200 seats, beyond the line for constitutional reform, while the opposition Unified Democratic Party (UDP) won only 81 seats. In that sense, conservative analysts claim this election is the final punishment for the Roh Moo-hyun government.

Low turnout

However, the most important fact in the election was the historically low turnout of voters. Only 46% of voters cast their ballots and more than half of voters abstained from voting — 17,389,206 out of 37,795,035 voters.

It means the vast majority of people lost hope in electoral politics, and the political institutions represent less than half the people. The allegedly “absolute majority” of conservatives, in fact, represents the opinion of the minority.

Furthermore, though the Hanara Party won a huge victory, its triumph is rather incomplete. Park Keun-hye led a court rebellion, both inside and outside the party. Her faction won about 40 MPs, and outside the party, pro-Park Solidarity won 14 seats. This group was composed of pro-Park politicians who failed to win Hanara’s candidacy and ran as independent candidates. Thus, Lee’s control over the party is vulnerable to a possible split or internal division.

Former Hanara presidential candidate Lee Hoe-chan’s party, the Freedom and Advance Party, succeeded in surviving as a local party dominating the Chungchung area. Another conservative party moves institutional politics further to the right. Many independent MPs were conservatives.

In contrast, the UDP’s loss is serious. The Democratic Party lost almost half its seats, down from 152 to 81 seats. And many of its leading figures, including even the party’s presidential candidate and party representative, lost their constituency seats.

After 10 years of rule, the party not only failed to complete the democratic reforms, but also pursued neoliberal policies, thereby destroying its own support base among the middle and lower classes.

Progressive forces

The DLP’s loss was expected, but considering the fiasco in the presidential election and the subsequent split of the PNP, five seats in parliament means its survival as a party.

However, considering the support it received from the Korean Federation of Trade Unions (KCTU) leaders and other popular movements, the result was modest. Without the unexpected victory of Kang Ki-gap in Jinju, the party’s profile would have been hampered more seriously.

Ironically, Kwon Young-gil, the party’s presidential candidate, who is mostly responsible for the poor result of the presidential election, saved his constituency seat.

The PNP failed to enter the parliament. The leaders of PNP, Shim Sang-jung and Roh Hoe-chan — popular former DLP MPs and media stars — lost in the constituency election. And from the party list, the PNP won just 2.94%.

Within the party, some members claim a victory and that there is potential, while others are critical towards the leadership’s shift to electoralism.

The extra-parliamentary left groups didn’t participate in the election — and criticised both the DLP and PNP as reformist parties. However, the left-wing groups outside the DLP are required to take an attitude toward the PNP, which is supposed to be refounded after the election.

Especially former KCTU president and former DLP MP Dan Byeong-ho’s position is important, because he disaffiliated from the DLP but refused to join PNP, insisting on building a genuine workers’ party.

Perspectives

The rearrangement or reconfiguration of politics, as well as progressive politics, is inevitable. The Lee Myung-bak government is going to start its neoliberal offensive on a massive scale, possibly initiating his ambitious, but insane, project of a great canal through the peninsula.

But his government will be faced with high expectations and tough resistance from both sides. And if Lee Myung-bak fails to obtain any tangible economic outcome in a short period, his leadership will be challenged from within his party and outside.

On the other hand, the labour, popular and social movements lost at the presidential and general elections. Thus, under the impact of defeats and splits, the legitimacy of the movements is still in jeopardy.

Though the DLP survived narrowly, the leadership and political capacity of the movement will be put to the test. And the PNP will be put to the test of surviving as an independent political force, independently of the majority national liberation current.

And the radical left that has been critical of the DLP will have to make a decision about how to intervene in the political rearrangement/regroupment of South Korea’s left-wing politics. Especially, the left-wing of PNP wants to build a broad left party that is distinct from the DLP, although radical left groups still have some doubt about the PNP left’s real intention.

In any case, the reconfiguration of left-wing politics will be on the agenda in the near future. On the other hand, the recent congress of the Power of the Working Class, a major radical leftwing group, declared its plan to build a working-class party and elected a new leadership. ]]> english_news 2008-05-16T12:35:21+09:00 South Korea:The general election and left-wing politics 2008-05-16T12:35:21+09:00